Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Alvara sat in her cell in the dungeons, thankfully alone. Imprisonment had begun to gain a certain appeal. At least here she could avoid small talk and maiming innocent bystanders.
Gods, what had she done? It had all happened so fast. Kat was only trying to help her, and Alvara had hurt her. Maybe King Einar hadn’t been wrong for locking her up—maybe it was the only way to contain her darkness.
Boots scuffed down the hall. “It’s her decision.”
“She attacked her!” The Malvan elf, the one who had tried and almost succeeded in suffocating her. Part of her wished he had.
“By all means, do speak with the king about it, Rav.”
Boden stood in front of the door, while the dark-haired elf hovered behind him like a lethal shadow. The deep gray of his eyes reminded her of the dark storm clouds that gathered before a dalvi blizzard, a warning to hide from the danger that approached.
“The council agreed to allow Kat to have the final decision,” Boden said, apparently unconcerned that his friend wanted to eradicate her from the face of the earth.
Kat would decide her fate which meant… “She’s alive?”
“It will require a few days of intensive healing, but she is free from any danger of fading. Kat would like to give you another chance. If you are able to master your magic enough to satisfy the council”—wind ruffled Boden’s hair, and he covered his face with his palm—“and Rav, in the next two days before I leave for Tasírath, you will be allowed to stay.”
Kat had survived. The pressure driving Alvara into the ground relented, but it didn’t change what she had done. And though she couldn’t imagine why, Kat wanted her to stay. She was offering Alvara a chance. A chance to be better—and she wouldn’t waste it.
“Thank you,” was all she could manage as she rested her head against the cold stones. She had to do it this time. Wrangle her powers and face another day, for her family.
“Enjoy the dungeon. I will collect you for training tomorrow.” Boden rolled his eyes as the Malvan elf whispered something in his ear.
“Rav, not this again. We can’t starve her, no matter how justified you may believe it to be.
I swear if you bring it up one more time…
” He tossed a hard object into Alvara’s lap, and she jumped.
A hunk of cheese wrapped in brown paper, with a handful of words scrawled across it. Eat. You’ll need it.
The clanging of metal practically tore Alvara’s eyelids from her face, and her hand flew to her hip, only to find an empty sheath. Of course they had taken her dagger. Who would leave a would-be murderer with a dangerous weapon?
Boden tapped a metal cup against the bars and lifted a plate of steaming bread and sliced cheese with his other hand.
“I come bearing food. Not poisoned by Rav, I confirmed.” Alvara leaned to the side and searched for the Malvan elf’s imposing form, and Boden looked down the hall behind him.
“Ah. He won’t be joining us as long as I am able to help it. He won’t hurt you, I promise.”
Doubtful. Boden probably had no way to stop Ravanel from draining the breath from her lungs.
The door creaked open, and she shoveled the meal into her mouth without tasting a single bite as she hurried after him toward the promise of sunlight and fresh air.
“We have two days. You either learn to control your magic, or they will toss you out in the snow. Which, seeing as you’re from Dalvi”—he looked her up and down over his shoulder—“you might genuinely enjoy that, but I’m hoping to avoid that outcome.”
A swig of water soothed her parched throat. “Why are you helping me? Why aren’t you shunning me like everyone else?”
“I am not thrilled with you and what you’ve done, but I have taken part in enough terrible situations to know the difference between someone who enjoys hurting others for their own pleasure and those who will tear themselves apart before ever forgiving themselves for pain they never wanted to cause.
I find it hard to believe you’re the former. ”
Alvara waited for the quip, the joke that would overshadow Boden’s words, but it didn’t come. Somehow, that was almost more unsettling. “What kind of terrible things are we talking about?”
“Murder, petty theft, the usual.”
She huffed in response, and they walked the rest of the way in silence, eventually entering a clearing at the city’s edge.
Boden tilted his head as he watched her, like someone assessing a rare object on display. His voice dropped lower as he spoke. “Eloisa wasn’t much use to us, you know. Seems a pity she sacrificed her life for a cause she did so little to help.”
“Excuse me?” What in Dalviri’s name was wrong with this male? He had just handed her breakfast and immediately jumped to disparaging her family’s memories. Alvara forced an inhale through her nose, but the cold air did nothing to calm the heat building under her skin.
“You wouldn’t know, it sounds like she never told you anything.
Though you don’t seem much better off than her, barely able to summon a snowflake.
” The earth rippled under her feet, knocking her to the ground.
Alvara’s rage rumbled and begged to be let free, but she smothered it until only embers remained. She needed to stay calm.
“Were your parents cowards like you? Or would they be horribly disappointed in seeing what you’ve—”
A thin gag of ice stretched over Boden’s mouth, just as Alvara’s powers shackled his feet to the ground. “Don’t you dare speak about my family like that.”
Boden somehow managed to grin, actually grin, beneath the ice crusting his mouth. He tried to speak, but the sound came out muffled. If she were a better person, she could have tried to see if she could free him, but she much preferred him like this, unable to utter a single word.
Her magic shouted at her now, commanding her to liberate it from its chains. Alvara directed a torrent of snow into the trees, and the incessant pounding of her power lessened with each flake.
Boden cracked the ice at his feet with his earth magic while he pried at his frozen mouth, flaking off small chunks until his lips were free.
“Magic is tied to our emotions—good gods, that’s cold.
” He shivered and wiped his face with the collar of his tan tunic.
“For some elves, like you, it is even more intricately connected. Your magic only manifests when you’re angry, because that is the only feeling you’re willing to admit. ”
Alvara thrust her hands into her coat pockets to fend off the frost swallowing her skin. “That was your grand plan? Anger me until my magic comes out?”
“It seemed to work rather well if I do say so myself. I sincerely apologize for what I said, but I believe it just shows that—”
Alvara let her anger fuel her magic one last time and formed another ice bind, much thicker this time, over his lips.
“Has anyone ever told you that you talk too much?”
Boden glared at her and tapped on his frozen mouth with an exasperated look that said, Undo it right now.
“I’m so sorry, I can’t understand you for some reason.” Alvara knew she was channeling her inner Lermi, but she couldn’t stop herself.
A clump of earth exploded over her head, and she yelped as she dusted off the dirt.
“Fine.” She focused on dissolving the patch of ice, but as her emotions faded, so did her powers.
Boden crossed his arms and watched her as she struggled to latch onto anything of substance.
“I wish I was joking, but I think you’re going to have to wait for that to melt.
” Except it wouldn’t any time soon, not in this weather.
He ran his hands through his hair and tugged at the chestnut strands with a slight shake of his head before lifting a finger and disappearing into the trees that led to the city beyond.
At least she had gotten rid of him for a little while. She ran her thumbs over her mother’s earrings. What would she think of all this? Her father would surely be scribbling away at his journal, documenting every moment as part of a story to be told one day.
The sunlight dappling through the desolate branches, the pecking of a bird at a tree’s bark—he would write down every minute detail while her mother accompanied him with unending patience. Eloisa would…well, she would be helping Kat and Boden. Risking her life to save others.
A burst of wind flapped Alvara’s braids. She didn’t need to look to know who had caused it.
“Alvara, Ravanel. Ravanel, Alvara.” Boden gestured to the Malvan elf she had hoped she would never see again.
Ravanel just watched her, his head of sleek black hair tilted to one side.
“Nice to meet you?” Alvara wrapped her coat around her exposed throat.
He stood as still as an ice carving. Did he not need to blink? “She didn’t deserve the cheese.”
Boden threw his hands up. “Vitharen help me. You have something you’d like to say, don’t you, Rav?”
Ravanel arched a brow at his friend, who mouthed something back with extra emphasis. “I’m not going to apologize.”
“What he means is that he is very sorry for trying to kill you.”
“No, I’m not.”
“Rav can be quite a pain”—a quick gust of wind knocked Boden to the ground, and a hole appeared beneath Ravanel’s feet, sinking him waist-deep into the dirt—“but he can also absorb your magic if you lose control.”
Wonderful. As if the ability to strangle someone from a distance wasn’t enough, the elf who wanted Alvara faded could also drain her powers whenever he felt like it. Though, admittedly, that part didn’t sound so terrible.
“Time to begin. Why do I make you angry?” Boden asked, while Ravanel crawled out of the ground with predatory grace.
“This again? Do you not have any other methods you can try?” Alvara didn’t take her eyes off the Malvan elf.
“Unless you can show me that you are able to draw from your power at will…” The earth rotated under Alvara’s feet until she was forced to look Boden in the eye, and she dug the toe of her boot into the ground, even though she knew it would do nothing to him or his magic.
She couldn’t access her own magic on command, and he damn well knew it.
“Then this is the best place to start. It will be much easier to find the source of your power while it’s actively being used, which seems to only happen when you’re angry or overwhelmed.
We have to recreate one of those feelings so you can focus on cutting off your flow of magic when you need to. ”
Alvara had told herself she would do whatever it took, and she meant it. She would play along with his silly little game. “How much time do you have? You work for the king who killed my family. You imprisoned me. You knew my father was going to fade and did nothing to stop it—”
“Actually—”
His interruption only fueled the storm swirling inside of her. “You claim you were helping me escape, but you seemed all too happy to turn me over.”
A smirk tugged on Boden’s features. He clearly enjoyed making her struggle.
“What are you smiling at, you—oh shit.” Frost had settled onto her skin, glistening in a way she would have found beautiful, reminiscent of home, if she wasn’t acutely aware of how dangerous it could become at any moment.
Ravanel stepped closer, and Boden dipped his head toward the ice wriggling out from under her feet. “Close your eyes and focus on the source of your power. What else makes you angry?”
What didn’t make her angry? Alvara took a deep breath and looked inward as her power continued to drain her life force, drop by drop. All she saw was the usual gloom that nested inside of her.
She started with the person who had taken everything from her. “King Einar.”
A crack.
Deeper, further, Alvara dove, until she finally latched onto a slick patch of ice, the same blue as her eyes and her mother’s.
“Now kindly cut off your power before you freeze me into oblivion.”
Alvara tried to focus on dissipating the frozen crystals, but her mind slipped from her grasp, fastening itself to every way the king had ruined her life.
She wanted revenge. She wanted to take everything from him in return.
The goal settled in her, hastily patching some of the holes that had begun to show in her thinning armor.
“Alvara…” Boden’s hesitant voice yanked on her attention.
The power within her was multiplying with frightening speed. Her stomach clenched as she tried to squash her magic, but it only laughed, chilling her organs and limbs.
As quickly as it came, it vanished. Her eyes flew open. “I did it!”
“Unfortunately, not the case. You can thank Rav for his assistance.” Boden furiously rubbed his frost-covered pants. “Whose idea was this again?”
“Yours,” Ravanel said. “It’s always yours.”
“Yes, I suppose it is. I do have good ideas occasionally.”
“Once a year.”
“Would you say this is one of those times?”
Alvara had endured enough of whatever in Dalviri’s name this nonsense was. “I’m standing right here. Are we chatting or training?”
By midday, Alvara had accessed her power countless times, only to lose control and be leashed like an animal by Ravanel, who did nothing to hide his thorough enjoyment of the part he played.
She had one more day to prove herself worthy, or she would be cast out with nowhere to go. Boden escorted her to the food hall, where she grabbed a bowl of stew, one of the three dishes the cook seemed capable of creating.
Eating only succeeded in making her stomach queasy as she stumbled into the forge. She would’ve given anything for even an oat or nut biscuit to calm her nerves. Or she could ask Kat for more of the sap candies—anything to give her a dose of numbing sweetness.
Oh, right. Alvara had stabbed her with the equivalent of knives. If the healers hadn’t been available…she could spend the rest of her life contemplating what she had almost done to someone who had only been trying to help her.
At the very least, the exhaustion from expending her power didn’t allow her to think about anything other than keeping her muscles moving.
She needed to do this. If not for Kat’s sake or her own, for Eloisa, who had given every last bit of herself to fighting this battle.
Alvara wouldn’t let anything or anyone stand in her way.